Electrical Designer Salary (2026)
Typical pay is $76,870 a year, with most electrical designers earning between $61,430 and $96,730. Based on the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Salary Calculator›Electrical Designer
Nationally, the typical electrical designer earns $76,870 a year. Early-career pay starts around $61,430, experienced electrical designers earn $96,730 or more, and the top 10% make over $120,290. About 17,920 people work in this occupation in the US. Pay is highest in New Hampshire ($102,070) and, among metro areas, in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($115,530).
Electrical Designer salary in the United States
Annual pay, BLS survey of May 2025
What electrical designers do
Electrical designers produce wiring diagrams, panel layouts and electrical drawings for buildings, controls and equipment. BLS counts them as electrical and electronics drafters, which is the occupation used here.
Electrical Designer salary by state
Typical annual pay for electrical designers in every state where BLS publishes figures, highest first.
| State | Typical | Early career | Experienced |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | $102,070 | $80,860 | $124,410 |
| New Mexico | $101,330 | $79,750 | $120,520 |
| Massachusetts | $87,290 | $60,280 | $104,430 |
| North Carolina | $81,960 | $72,810 | $84,530 |
| Idaho | $81,590 | $54,040 | $116,410 |
| Ohio | $80,840 | $61,880 | $90,320 |
| Georgia | $80,620 | $66,010 | $105,910 |
| Texas | $80,620 | $61,580 | $96,730 |
| Indiana | $80,100 | $64,260 | $99,900 |
| Utah | $79,360 | $53,040 | $101,040 |
| Colorado | $79,300 | $63,350 | $101,980 |
| Kentucky | $79,050 | $64,880 | $82,540 |
| California | $78,310 | $63,180 | $102,530 |
| Oregon | $78,170 | $62,650 | $94,460 |
| New York | $77,830 | $65,820 | $99,990 |
| New Jersey | $77,600 | $61,510 | $104,410 |
| Minnesota | $77,330 | $70,610 | $96,010 |
| Tennessee | $77,180 | $65,860 | $80,600 |
| Missouri | $76,690 | $63,030 | $96,000 |
| South Carolina | $76,440 | $63,950 | $80,980 |
| Maryland | $75,680 | $57,240 | $90,430 |
| Wisconsin | $75,650 | $71,390 | $81,660 |
| Maine | $75,100 | $61,660 | $78,070 |
| Iowa | $74,470 | $62,180 | $96,270 |
| Michigan | $73,860 | $57,730 | $91,760 |
| Arizona | $73,080 | $55,390 | $90,110 |
| Florida | $73,010 | $54,770 | $87,840 |
| Pennsylvania | $72,720 | $61,660 | $94,180 |
| Washington | $72,250 | $62,640 | $98,440 |
| Nevada | $71,310 | $65,200 | $84,270 |
| Oklahoma | $69,520 | $62,100 | $80,300 |
| Illinois | $68,310 | $62,780 | $91,280 |
| Hawaii | $68,050 | $61,430 | $80,670 |
| Connecticut | $66,980 | $59,940 | $100,420 |
| Wyoming | $64,690 | $51,500 | $65,310 |
| Virginia | $64,650 | $57,010 | $86,120 |
| Delaware | $63,460 | $48,400 | $76,930 |
| Louisiana | $62,550 | $44,990 | $84,300 |
| Kansas | $60,730 | $48,350 | $84,680 |
| Nebraska | $59,570 | $50,260 | $77,470 |
| Mississippi | $58,780 | $46,480 | $78,840 |
| Alabama | $51,650 | $44,660 | $64,630 |
| South Dakota | $50,840 | $42,190 | $65,960 |
Highest-paying metro areas
| Metro area | Typical |
|---|---|
| 1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $115,530 |
| 2. Boulder, CO | $103,910 |
| 3. Manchester-Nashua, NH | $102,810 |
| 4. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $100,420 |
| 5. Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA | $100,090 |
| 6. Anchorage, AK | $98,920 |
| 7. Worcester, MA | $98,610 |
| 8. Boise City, ID | $97,550 |
| 9. Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $90,360 |
| 10. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $87,010 |
| 11. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $86,140 |
| 12. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $84,680 |
| 13. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $84,680 |
| 14. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $84,090 |
| 15. Columbus, OH | $83,700 |
Pay in Apollo's markets
| Metro | Typical |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | $87,010 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $83,100 |
| Houston | $79,160 |
| Austin | $84,680 |
| Charlotte | $78,900 |
| Raleigh | $81,960 |
| San Antonio | $78,530 |
| Chicago | $69,500 |
| Orlando | $75,030 |
| Tampa | $66,910 |
| Miami | $65,020 |
| Jacksonville | $75,780 |
| Greenville-Spartanburg | $77,120 |
| Columbia, SC | $74,590 |
| Charleston, SC | $79,990 |
| Savannah | Not published |
Related cad and design salaries
Electrical Designer salary FAQs
How much does a electrical designer make in the US?
The typical (median) electrical designer in the US earns $76,870 a year, or about $36.96 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Half earn more and half earn less.
What is the entry-level salary for a electrical designer in the US?
Early-career electrical designers in the US typically earn around $61,430 (the 25th percentile), and the lowest-paid 10% earn under $50,040. Degree, internships, licenses and the industry all move starting pay.
How much do experienced electrical designers earn in the US?
Experienced electrical designers in the US earn $96,730 or more (the 75th percentile), and the top 10% earn over $120,290.
Which state pays electrical designers the most?
New Hampshire has the highest typical pay for electrical designers at $102,070 a year. The highest-paying metro area is San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA at $115,530 (BLS, May 2025).
Are electrical designers in demand?
BLS projects employment in this occupation to shrink 3.4% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% for all jobs, with about 1,400 openings a year nationally as people retire, change jobs or the field grows.
Hiring electrical designers?
Where these numbers come from
Pay figures come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (OEWS), which surveys about 1.1 million employer locations and is the government's main source of pay by occupation and location. This page uses the May 2025 survey, released in 2026, and updates itself when BLS publishes the next year's figures. Job outlook comes from the BLS Employment Projections for 2025–35. Cost of living comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024, where the US average is 100.
Pay is base wages and salary before tax. It does not include bonuses, overtime, benefits or equity. Early career is the 25th percentile (a quarter of workers earn less), Typical is the median and Experienced is the 75th percentile. The bar shows the full range from the 10th to the 90th percentile. The salary rank check estimates a percentile by drawing straight lines between those five published points.
BLS groups some job titles together. Controls engineers, for example, are counted with electrical engineers, and CAD designers with drafters. Each result names the BLS occupation it uses so you can see exactly what is being measured. BLS does not publish every occupation in every area, for example when too few people in a job were surveyed or when a figure does not meet its reliability standards. When a metro figure is missing, the calculator shows the state figure, or the national figure if the state is also missing, and says so.
BLS occupation used on this page: Electrical and Electronics Drafters (SOC 17-3012).